Copperhead's Cage

[chevy454hp]

Hello Everyone, I have been following several builds throughout the site and have got so many great ideas for my own garage. I figured it was about time I started a build thread. I am nowhere close to being finished and have a lot more work to do so maybe you guys can help me more along the way. This is my first house and first garage build. I have been trying to find as many pictures of my progress but I can’t seem to find any from when I first started. The garage is nicknamed "Copperhead's Cage" because it houses my 1977 Chevy C10 truck, aka Copperhead. The garage is a very multipurpose shop; I do everything from work on vehicles, metalworking, woodworking, painting and just about anything in between. Here is the plan that I started with. Grizzly Tools has a pretty cool easy to use shop planner on their website. Garage is a two car 20x25.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Fill in your location in your profile.

Now is the time to start thinking about insulation and heat and cooling.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

What is that "island" thing? CNC router or plasma CAM deal? Tanning booth?

 

[chevy454hp]

The center island is going to be a workbench with my table saw mounted on it. With the garage being multipurpose in mind, this will create another place to work when I'm not using my saw, just lower the blade and pull the fence off. It will measure ~ 3 1/2'W x 5'L x 3'T.

 

[chevy454hp]

Here is what I came up with for the center island. It houses my Table saw, router and my mitre saw. I wanted to get this work station finished so i could start building my cabinets.

Also the garage was already insulated and for now I plan on a wall mount a/c unit and a small forced air propane heater for cooling and heating.

 

[chevy454hp]

I mounted popup casters to the work station so I can move it around easily.

 

[chevy454hp]

So I didn't want to spend a ton of time and money taping and textureing the walls so I came up with this. Fast and easy, I just took a mud knife and a bucket of mud and slapped it on the wall and made my own pattern. No sanding and if a spot looked weird I could just scrap it off. After some paint and hanging the cabinets I think it will look pretty cool. I will be doing this one wall at a time and as $ allows me and that way I can still work in the garage.

 

[chevy454hp]

Here is a photo before I started and some up close after paint. Let me know what you think.

 

[HSpencer]

Hi and thanks for posting your work. The island work station for table saw and router table is really nice. Keeps those important items together and provides lots of valuable storage. Good that you made it mobile. That item will be a center piece of your shop.
The knock-down finish on the walls looks good. I am also no fan of finishing sheet rock, and the knock-down is one way to make it go faster. I will be looking forward to more progress, and am going to be interested in how you set up your shop.

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[chevy454hp]

Here is the start to my lower countertop and cabinets. I decided to mount my toolbox into the cabinet.

 

[chevy454hp]

Another angle.

 

[chevy454hp]

Picked up a good deal on a Drill Press, it was only $35. It is a harbor freight special so I'm not sure how long it will last. Should buy me some time until I can pick up a bigger one.

 

[chevy454hp]

The work bench is coming along.

 

[chevy454hp]

I also scored on a vise from Sears. Regular price was $99.99 and for some reason it was on the closeout rack 50% off! Got it mounted on the bench and was a nice upgrade to what i was using.

 

[chevy454hp]

The casters are made by WoodRiver. I pick up the set of them from my local Woodcraft store. You can order them online too. They work great!

 

[chevy454hp]

I found a really good deal on some slat wall and I just couldn't pass it up. I was originally planning on using peg board even though I wanted slat wall. The cost was interfering with my decision. I was able to get just enough to run it along the front of the garage. The pieces varied in size because they were left overs from a business that was going in next door to my job. I had to puzzle the pieces together but its wasn't to hard and i love the way it is looking.

 

[chevy454hp]

Sorry Everyone, I disappeared for awhile. It has been a crazy year for me. I haven't had much time to work in the garage but I want to show everyone what I have been working on lately. My first attempt at building my center island combo bench/saw was too flimsy and would always get high centered on everything. the functionality was a great idea but having I found myself fighting with it more than it was helping me. I decided to build a new one that I would never have to worry about breaking. I have been doing a lot more metal working and wanted to have a table that I could weld on also. this is what I have came up with... let me know what you guys think.

 

[chevy454hp]

Made from 2'' .120 wall square tube.

 

[chevy454hp]

Corner braces I made for the casters.

 

[chevy454hp]

Getting the saw in position.

 

[chevy454hp]

Dust collection for the saw.

 

[chevy454hp]

Cutting the top to fit. Top is a 4' X 8' sheet of 1/4'' thick steel. Plasma cutter made this easy and quick.

 

[BigSteve63]

That is one awesome work center! Well thought out and great execution - nicely done!

 

[taumac]

WOW, nice build there. Well done!

 

[chevy454hp]

Thanks, I'm working on the bottom shelf right now. I decided to make the shelf out of expanded metal. I also have plans of some sort of a receiver style shelf that i can put my mitre saw or metal chop saw on. Maybe even a woodworking or standard vise.

 

[Pwaley]

Looking good, subscribed =)

 

[chevy454hp]

Ran into a bit of a snag, I forgot about how my mitre gauge extended past the saw in order to make a full pass through the blade, so I used the plasma again to cut out two notches in the top for it.

 

[chevy454hp]

I'm really liking how everything is turning out.

 

[chevy454hp]

Well guys and gals, I was lucky enough to sell my old house and just purchased a new place with a 3 car garage and a 24x28 detached shop. Its now time to start designing and setting up my new work space. I'm pretty excited to have a dedicated shop to work in now!! Here is a couple photos of the new place.

 

[chevy454hp]

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[chevy454hp]

Before moving anything in I wanted to get some color on the walls. I was lucky enough to have the walls finished by the previous owner. I decided to stick with the same base color as my other garage since I already had some left over paint. I have red tool boxes so decided to add a red stripe on the walls to give some flare

 

[chevy454hp]

Getting ready for paint. I have a buddy that owns a painting business so I called in a favor[emoji3]


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[chevy454hp]

Base color, same as old garage.


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[chevy454hp]

Added another color, dark gray for the lower section.


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[chevy454hp]

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[chevy454hp]

Really happy with how it turned out!! Red stripe was a bit challenging but it looks awesome.


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[rixtrix1]

That's going to be one heavy duty all-purpose island. Nice!

 

[chevy454hp]

Thanks Rixtrix1, It has been really helpful.

 

[chevy454hp]

Built a new rolling cart for my General tool boxes today. I got tired of the cheap casters that they came with so I purchased sone heavy duty ones from House of Wheels and decided to bolt the boxes together.


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[gipraw]

Nice. Congrats on the new place. We need to see a pic or two of the truck.